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Interview: Howard Jones of Killswitch Engage

Killswitch Engage frontman Howard Jones is not what you'd expect for a metal frontman. He sits in the back lounge of his tour bus clad in a nice suit jacket, designer jeans and polished shoes. He's affable with a dry sense of humor and soft spoken manner that doesn't scream "Get in the pit" as much as it does "Get in the library!" However, Killswitch Engage remain one of 21st century metal's most consistent acts. The band's concoction of sweeping melodies and jagged thrash riffs has driven them straight to the top of the New Wave of American Heavy Metal. On their latest album, As Daylight Dies, they take their sound to new heights with a heavier more focused assault that's garnered them further acclaim and spots on arena-size tours. Relaxing in that back lounge, Howard Jones talked to ARTISTdirect outside one of these many arenas on a recent tour.

What would you say drives the "Killswitch" sound?

Ahhh, I don't know, boredom [laughs]. I guess melody's always been a big factor in this band. We're basically surrounded by heavy music in the States, especially on the East Coast. There is a plethora of heavy bands. There's a lot of melody in what we do, because a lot of what we listen to is melodic. We all like heavy bands, but I know Adam's huge on melody, and I've always loved a good hook. It just kind of came out that way. I sound like me, for better or worse. When you hear me you're going to know there's Howard, and you're like, "Oh I hate that guy's voice" [laughs]. You'll know it's me.

The metal scene is so centralized in Western Mass. There's definitely a distinct vibe that's come out of there. However, Killswitch has always entered pop territory a bit.

Yeah, we definitely have done that. I'll be the first to admit that we'll definitely go that route, and I mean some of the stuff we've written. I'm like, "Man, that is borderline gay!" [Laughs] I mean, wow, when I wrote the lyrics to "My Curse," I thought these guys were really going to hate it. I've never used the word "love" so much in my life. Even so, if people just listen to the progression of Killswitch, there's a lot less of the Swedish influence in the metal riffing. It's not that it's completely disappeared; it's just kind of evolved. A lot of the guys grew up on the Swedish stuff and honed in on it. It's just changing as it goes.

Why do you think metal's been so concentrated in the Northeast?

The thing is all of the bands are still doing what they've been doing. Killswitch started in 1999. Unearth started in like 2000. It's just something that's always been there. Just recently, it started getting more noticed. God Forbid and Shadows Fall have been around for ages. Recently, it's become a little more known. Every band I've been in, I've always screamed and sang. There's something in the water there. There really isn't a lot to do especially in the winter except music or ski. I ain't doing that [laughs].

As Daylight Dies feels like your most cohesive album, yet. It feels like a conscious evolution from The End of Heartache.

I will totally agree with that. I can't even listen to myself though; it drives me nuts. From beginning to end, this is more solid. There are less ups and downs. It was all written in less than two weeks, whereas The End of Heartache was pieced together over a long period of time.

What's the next step?

Oh sweet God, I have no idea! Maybe faster stuff? That was the nice surprise with Daylight, it's heavier. The new stuff may be heavier, who knows. That's if we don't get tired of it. I still recall talking to Adam on the phone and he's like "Yeah are you ready to start recording? We've got 13 songs." I was like, "When are we supposed to start recording?" It was Sunday and he responds "Tuesday." Yeah, it was a surprise to me. I wrote some of that one on the road and at home.

It's good to see that metal is making the climb back into arenas with you and Lamb of God.

It's weird. I'm a little baffled by it. What are we doing here? Whose buying tickets, what's wrong with you guys? [laughs] It's definitely interesting to think about that. We played here once before with Taste of Chaos. I never expected to be co-headlining a tour with Lamb of God here. We did The Headbangers Ball tour together, which wasn't this big of places. None of us ever expected this. It's just strange, we've sold albums. It doesn't really change much because we're still just on the road a lot as always. Still live in the same apartment, drive the same car, but I look out the window of the bus, and see it's a big building, that's kind of creepy [laughs].

You guys have all risen up from the underground to this point.

Yeah, that still baffles me. Especially now, not a lot of people are selling tickets and albums anymore. Now you can make an album, you're basically giving it away, because it's easy to get a hold of any music now. It's a compliment that people are coming out to watch four bands make a bunch of racket. Things have definitely changed. It's still weird to me.

You're all still D.I.Y at the same time, which strengthens that connection to the fans.

It really is kind of like that. With us, Mike [D'Antonio, bass] still does all of our artwork. Adam does a lot of recording. Lamb of God, you'll see them taking care of their merch before shows. I remember watching Randy fold t-shirts, and I'm like, "That is something I am not going to do!" He's like, "I don’t know why I'm doing this either, man." It's been kind of nice, we've been able to keep control of a lot of the things we've done. Never in my wildest dreams, did I think I'd be doing something like this.

—Rick Florino
03.04.08